the_copas_brother_bandfandomcom-20200213-history
Bio
The Copas Bros. played their first job on March 3,1974 at Club Le Cheval in Baker, LA on Plank Road. The band had practiced for about 5 months prior to that. In the beginning the band did covers of old Bluegrass songs and gradually working in original songs then playing newer songs like tunes by new artists, Jimmy Buffet, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings,David Allen Coe and a whole new breed of song writers. The Copas Bros. gained popularity at a club called Cahoots owned by a fellow high school class mate named Danny Kertacy from Baton Rouge that started booking the band at Cahoots in Baton Rouge as well as other weekly gigs at Ziggy’s and Jed’s. A fan base of local LSU students and local fun loving characters from Baton Rouge and New Orleans rallied around the band. Eventually the band became even more popular getting bookings throughout the United States; Corpus Christi Texas, Austin, Beaumont. Then came Miami(where Steve Martin performed the previous week), Alabama, New York City, Mississippi, North Carolina, Paris,Tennessee(Hank Williams,Jr’s Club) Vail, Aspen, Breckenridge, Denver, Leadville, Evergreen, Grand Lake, Colorado. Deleware and Virginia. Along the way they opened concerts for Jimmy Buffet, Jerry Jeff Walker, Doug Kershaw, Hank Williams, Jr.,Waylon Jennings, Doug Kershaw,Tracy Nelson,The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Asleep at the Wheel,Tom Waits, and many more. They performed at The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 5 times. The Copas Bros did local TV commercials and performed and wrote songs for C.C. Lockwood’s award winning film Atchafalaya “America’s Largest River Basin Swamp”. Their selection of songs and close harmonies and their unusual style and presentations had the attention of world Famous record producer Clive Davis of Columbia Records. Also, Electra Asylum records(The Eagles label) was Watching their studio work with regular calls to the studio checking on their progress. There was even interest by a Record Producer from France. Written by Ed Lakin Addendum: The Copas Brothers were a Danny Kertacy creation/collaboration as was the Damn Right Chorus. Potliquor and Louisianas Leroux.Through his previous association with Jim Brown, the first British music band promoter in BR, circa 1967-1970, he learned how and when to promote. He designed the members of the CB band. The Outlaw Country era was in full swing so we created Outlaw Bluegrass which fit right in with what was going on at that time. Danny already knew about Randy, Dickie and Don. He directed Pat and me to contact them about joining the band to replace current members who could not travel. The Outlaw Bluegrass sound was what he was going for. The band was then ready to be promoted as only Danny could. I knew it would be a success because of my previous dealings with Danny in other bands. There were 5 lead singers that also could harmonize. Each member had their own individual responsibility's and abilities to bring to the table. There was no LEADER of the band. The band members collaborated in creating a unique show and sound using our collectively progressive creative abilities. It was this ultimate division of labor concept that made it work. Danny directed Pat to collect the money from the club owners because Pat was the best communicator in the band and also no club owner wanted to stand in front of Pat with his hand out to be paid after the gig and not have cash to put in his hand, big ole burly boy looks like he might could do some damage, most effective when playing for new club owners. ' '''Rule #1- ALWAYS get paid after the gig and no later. Pat was an incredibly funny guy that always had folks rolling in the aisles with his off the cuff comments when we were on stage. I was mostly his straight man but he also made use of Paw Paw and the rest too. He is just as funny offstage as well. He was and still is the Spokesman for the band. He had that Charlie Daniels look and appeal. He sang some soulful bluegrass, Beatles, Jimmy Buffet songs and more. ' 'Pat collected the money and gave it to DON, the Danny appointed treasurer for the band. Don would pay all the bills and then distribute what was left at the end of the week to the band. He was the first ever drummer to play bluegrass music and also sang lead on some songs during the night. A true risk taking innovator. ' 'Randy was in charge of learning and singing the new songs coming out of Outlaw Country movement in Austin, his voice was the Texas voice of the band and at daily practices we worked up those songs. He had that funky guitar banjo style that was one of a kind and our audiences loved it. Randy and me were dance partners while we were playing. ' '''Paw Paw(Dickie k.) was in charge of bringing the true bluegrass songs he had worked up years ago to help supply our Outlaw Bluegrass sound. His fiddle and mandolin helped bring our sound to life. His voice was truly unique and he is a truly gifted songwriter. He had that true cowboy look and was very entertaining to watch on stage dancing and slinging that fiddle bow around while he played.. I brought my rock/csny/eagles songs from previous bands that helped round out our song-list. I wrote and sang some ballads and was always in the hunt for more new cosmic cowboy type songs. I liked to dance while I was playing, still do. ''' '''It ALWAYS takes a TEAM to achieve success and we were quite a team from 1974-1977 when it was Danny and the original 5 of us who took off on the road trying to fulfill a dream. We did but were too young to hold on to it for long. We didn't survive our success. Still, it was a wonderful ride while it lasted. Written by L J Copas